Ping!
by Xodarap
Summary: After Buffy takes down the Trio and deals with the reveal of her secret relationship with Spike, Xander inadvertently reveals a secret of his own.
1. Chapter 1

**Ping!**

By Paradox761

Summary: After Buffy takes down the Trio and deals with the reveal of her secret relationship with Spike, Xander inadvertently reveals a secret of his own. (Secret crossover)

Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue.

Spoilers: "Seeing Red", some dialogue has been taken directly from the episode.

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Xander parked his car in front of the Summers' house and got out. It was a quiet morning, leaving him nothing to distract him from his own thoughts. Buffy and Spike, the very idea of it still made him ill. But the more and more that he thought about it the more he realized that it was his own guilt that ate at him. The guilt over the part he played in bringing Buffy back from the dead, pulling her out of Heaven and her just reward and plunging her back into this life again. The guilt over being so caught up in his own drama that he couldn't see how much pain she was in. The fact that Buffy felt like Spike was the only one that she could turn to, it hurt him. And it scared him to think that things might never go back to the way they were between them.

He could see Buffy in the back yard from the street, so he walked to the back of the house and through the back gate. She had a stick in her hand and she was poking through the bushes that lined the back of the yard. "Time for the Spring Poking already?" he said, trying to hide how uncomfortable he felt.

"Just making sure there's no more Evil Trio cameras. Or Evil Uno."

"The sinister yet addictive card game?"

"Warren. Jonathan and Andrew got klinked, but Warren pulled a Rocket Man. It was a thing."

"You'll find him. He won't be much good without his friends."

"No. He won't," Buffy said softly.

The silence seemed to stretch as Xander bit his lip, trying to think of the right words. "How did we get here?"

"Scenic route. Long drive."

"These last few weeks…"

"I know."

"I thought I hit rock bottom, but…it hurt. That you didn't trust me enough to tell me about Spike. It hurt."

"I'm sorry. I should have told you."

"Maybe you would have. If I hadn't given you so many reasons to think I'd be an ass about it," Xander said.

"Guess we've both done a lot of things lately we're not proud of."

Xander remembered the look on Anya's face on their wedding day, when he left her at the altar. "Think I got you beat," he said.

"Want to compare?"

"Not so much." They shared a smile but it faded quickly from Xander's face. "I don't know what I'd do…without you and Will."

"Let's not find out," Buffy said, pulling him into a hug. Tears of relief tugged at his face. They sat like that together for what seemed like a while, but for Xander it would never be long enough. He never wanted to let go. "I love you," she said. "You know that, right?"

Xander again felt himself at a loss for words. He opened his mouth to reply when his gaze shifted to over Buffy's shoulder and his eyes went wide. "Buffy…"

She turned quickly to see Warren standing at the back of the yard, a gun in his hand. His face twisted in rage. "You think you can just do that to me? That I'd let you get away with it? Think again!" He raised the gun and fired.

Buffy immediately reacted, moving to push Xander out of the way. But strangely, he didn't budge. It was like trying to push over a statue. He stepped between her and Warren and that's when she heard a most peculiar sound.

*PING*

The first thing she saw was the look of horror and confusion on Warren's face as he looked at Xander. She couldn't wrap her mind around what was happening. Why did he look so scared all of a sudden? What was that sound? It was almost as if the bullet had ricocheted off of something metal. Xander started walking toward Warren and Buffy finally looked to him, to warn him away, but her warning died in her throat.

Xander had gained about a foot in height, and his skin was covered in gleaming silver metal.

Warren staggered back as Xander stalked toward him. "What…what are you?" he stammered.

"A gun, seriously?!" Xander said angrily. His voice was a deeper baritone now, but it had a metallic tint to it, like an echo in a tin shack. He snatched the weapon from Warren's hand and crushed it in his fist, like it was made of clay. With his other hand he lifted Warren by the front of his shirt a few feet off the ground. "You son of a…"

"Please don't hurt me!"

Xander turned and hurled the geek across the yard. He landed on his back, knocking the wind out of him, and his head snapped back and hit the ground hard, knocking him unconscious.

Buffy stared, mouth agape. She couldn't wrap her head around what she was seeing. Her first thought was another robot, but the surprise on Warren's face seemed to negate that. Could it be a demon, something imitating Xander. But why had it saved her life? Then he looked at her, with those puppy dog eyes and that patented 'I screwed up, please don't hate me' look that he always got and instantly Buffy knew that no, this was still her Xander.

"Xander…"

"Buffy, I can explain!"

"What…how…what…"

Just then Willow and Tara came out of the back door. "We heard a noise," Willow said. "What was…oh my god! Xander? What…how…what?"

"That's what I said," Buffy added. "Are you a de…"

"No!" Xander insisted before Buffy even got the word out.

"No, he's human," Tara said. "Look at his aura." Willow nodded in agreement.

"I'm a mutant," Xander said.

"A what?" Buffy said.

Xander sighed and closed his eyes. His body reverted back to its normal form. The only sign that anything had happened were the ripped sleeves of his shirt. "This is going to take some explaining. Why don't we go inside."

"What about him?" Tara asked, standing over the unconscious Warren.

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Five minutes later they were all seated around the kitchen table, the unconscious Warren tied to a chair. "It started when I was thirteen," Xander said. "That's when it happens for most of us, during puberty. I started…changing. I thought I was going crazy at first, that this couldn't really be happening, but it was. That's when Professor Xavier found me."

"Who's that?" Willow asked.

"He's a mutant too, he runs a school for people like us in upstate New York. He has a device that he can use that amplifies is powers and lets him find us. Confused kids that don't understand what's happening to them, he finds them and he takes them in, teaches them about what they are and how to survive in a world that doesn't understand us. He wanted me to come live at the school, but I couldn't leave."

"Why not?" Willow asked.

"Because of you, Will," Xander said. "When I was a kid, you and Jesse were all that I had. You were the only thing that kept me going. The Professor saw that and realized what a mistake it would be to take me away from you."

"Oh, Xander," she said, her eyes welling up. She reached out and squeezed his hand.

"He had a summer program for kids that couldn't enroll full time so he put me in that. He used his powers to BS my parents, we decided that telling them the truth would have been a hugely bad idea. So every summer after that when I said that I was going to camp or visiting relatives out of state, I was at the Xavier school in New York. And after I graduated I kept going back to help out around the school, whatever I could do."

"Are they all…like you?" Buffy asked.

"No, everyone's powers are different."

"What causes it?" Tara asked.

"It's a genetic mutation, like having two different color eyes or weird birthmark, it's just…on a much larger scale. It's like an evolutionary hiccup, at least that's how it was explained to me."

"How many are there?" Buffy asked.

"More and more every day," Xander said. "Right now the general public doesn't know about us, we've been able to keep it mostly secret. But that's probably going to change soon. The more of us there are, the harder it will be to hide. The Professor thinks it's only a matter of time."

"Is that a bad thing?" Willow asked. "I mean, why do you have to stay hidden?"

"The same reason that the truth about vampires and demons has to stay hidden, the public couldn't handle it. There would be panic. People would fear us, even hate us."

"So why couldn't you tell us?" Buffy asked, clearly hurt.

Xander looked ashen. "I wanted to, a thousand times, but it's been drilled into me since I was thirteen years old that it wasn't my secret to tell. That the more people who know about us the more at risk we are, and to tell anyone was to betray the trust that Professor Xavier had in me. But like I said, things are changing, and I was going to tell all of you, I really was, I just…could never find the right time." He locked eyes with Buffy. "I'm sorry."

"You realize that you getting mad at me for not trusting you enough to tell you about Spike makes you a huge hypocrite, right?"

"I realize that, yes," Xander said. "Hence the part about me acting like an ass."

Buffy leaned forward and punched him in the arm.

"Ow!"

Willow reached out and punched the other arm.

"OW!"

"Doofus," Willow said. The two women then moved toward Xander and enveloped him in a hug.

"You are SO lucky that I love you," Buffy said. "And the fact that you just saved my life makes it kind of hard to stay mad. Plus, I just don't want to be mad right now, I can't handle it."

Xander closed his eyes and smiled, hugging his two favorite girls. "You're right Buffy, I am lucky." He looked up at Tara who was standing next to them now. "You want to punch me, too? Come on, everyone's doing it." Tara just leaned down and joined in on the hug. "That works too."

Next to them, still tied to a chair, Warren started to come to. He opened his eyes and looked over at the group hug with a confused expression on his face. He tried to take advantage of the distraction by wiggling out of his bonds, but succeeded only in knocking himself off balance and tipping the chair back as he struggled. He landed on his back again, knocking the wind out of himself. "Ow," he moaned softly.

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One month later.

Somewhere on the outskirts of Sunnydale near a thickly wooded area, Xander's car sat parked on the side of a dirt road. Xander stood leaning against the passenger door, Dawn sat cross-legged on the hood with a book in her lap. In front of the car Tara was creating a circle with salt, arranging the ingredients for the spell they were about to perform. "Nice night for a banishing," Xander said. "I was just going to stay home, fire up the grill maybe, have a couple of beers, but this is way more fun. Remember when the summers used to be quiet around here, what happened to that?"

"This shouldn't take long," Tara said. "We're almost ready, all we need is the talisman that those ninja vampire monk guys stole from the Magic Box and we can perform the banishment. Then there's no way they'll be able to summon Rangorr the Blood God."

"Ninja vampire monks, blood gods, even the big bads used to be simpler," Xander said.

"If you say 'when I was your age…', I'll throw this book at you," Dawn said without looking up. She checked the symbol in the book against what Tara was drawing and nodded to her.

"This is taking too long," Xander said. "They should have been back by now."

"I'm sure Buffy and Willow are fine," Tara said. "Willow cast a glamour on them both so they shouldn't be seen."

Just then, Buffy and Willow burst from the woods at a full run, two dozen ninja vampire monks chasing behind them. "Guess it wore off," Xander said. He stood away from the car and activated his powers, an instant later he was seven feet tall and his body was covered with a thick layer of organic steel.

"Dawn, get in the circle!" Tara called out. "The spell should keep them out!"

Xander rushed into the fray, plowing through the vampires closest to Buffy and Willow knocking them down. Now with room to regroup, Buffy pulled a stake from her jacket and jumped in as well, delivering a fierce roundhouse kick to the face of the nearest vampire before plunging the stake into his chest and dusting him. Willow turned, held out her arm and spoke a short incantation. A fireball shot out and struck the nearest vampire, immolating him. Xander continued tossing them around like ragdolls. A few of them tried attacking but their blows glanced off of his metal skin with virtually no effect. One even tried jumping onto Xander's back and biting his neck, he was in for a nasty surprise when he broke his front fangs. Xander reached behind himself and grabbed him by the neck and flung him forward.

The battle was over rather quickly, the vampires that Buffy and Willow hadn't already killed were all lying on the ground moaning in pain, most of their bones broken from tussling with the large mutant. Buffy was walking around and staking them to finish them off. "Where's the talisman?" Xander asked.

"We were too late," Willow said, shaking her head. She had a look of fear on her face that made Xander nervous, because he knew it wasn't these monks that had caused it. She looked back into the woods and swallowed hard. "Oh, no. Buffy!"

Xander and Buffy both turned and looked toward the tree line. Xander didn't see anything at first but he heard what sounded like gunshots. Then he realized that it was the sound of trees being snapped in half. When it finally stepped out of the woods, Xander realized why Willow had looked so terrified. It was thirty feet tall, with glowing red eyes. It had an ape-like appearance with very long arms that brushed the ground when it walked and short legs, covered in blood red fur. Its feet were like the talons of a bird.

"It's still weak from the summoning," Willow said. "If we're going to kill it, this is going to be our only chance."

Xander turned back toward the car where Tara and Dawn were still in the spell circle. "Dawn?" he asked. The pair were frantically looking through the book that Dawn was holding.

"We're looking, we're looking!" she insisted.

Xander looked at Buffy, they both wore the same expression. Wordlessly their faces both conveyed the same two thoughts. 'What the hell are we going to do against this thing?' and 'We have to try anyway'. Buffy pulled a short sword out of the back of her jacket, and with a nod they both rushed in.

Without even seeming to notice them, the thing swung one arm and batted Xander away, sending him flying back. He realized that he was headed straight toward his car so he dug his feet and hands into the ground to slow himself. He slid to a halt inches from the vehicle. Breathing a sigh of relief he looked up to see Buffy jumping up and plunging her sword into the blood god's midsection, but the blow seemed to do little more than annoy him. He brushed her away, sending her crashing to the ground as well.

The thing took a few steps forward and then stopped, encased by a blue light. Xander looked over and saw Willow with her arms up, seemingly controlling the field that held the creature. Her expression looked strained. "This isn't going to hold him for long!" she shouted.

"I got it!" Dawn called out. "His eyes, blessed silver to the eyes will kill it!"

Xander and Buffy shared another look before he quickly turned and popped the trunk on his car and ran to the back and opened it. The space was filled with weapons of every kind, swords, axes, stakes, crossbows. "Blessed silver, blessed silver," Xander muttered to himself as he rummaged through the small arsenal. "Got it! Here," he said, holding up a pair of daggers just as Buffy was running over to the car.

"That's it? We don't have a broadsword or a pole-axe?"

"Silver is expensive," Xander said defensively.

Buffy sighed. "I'll take what I can get," she said, taking the daggers. "Now how the hell am I going to get up there, I barely made it to his midsection before and he brushed me off like a flea."

"I can distract him," Xander said.

"No offense but he barely noticed you before either, I don't think that will work."

Xander sighed. She was right, but they were running out of time.

"Guys…hurry…" Willow called out, her voice clearly strained. Blood was starting to drip from her nose as she struggled to hold the force field.

Buffy turned from Willow back to Xander, a determined look on her face. "Throw me."

"What?!"

"Throw me," she repeated, already climbing into his arms before he could protest.

"Are you sure?" Xander asked. She just nodded with a look in her eye that brokered no further argument. Tara and Dawn looked on apprehensively. Xander took a deep breath. "Okay, put your feet together and bend your knees. Keep your arms crossed across your chest, make yourself into a ball. At the height of the throw, you kick off. Got it?" Buffy nodded, crossing her arms in front of her, a dagger in each hand.

Xander stepped forward, he grabbed Buffy's feet with his right and put his left hand on her shoulder to steady her. "Okay Wills, drop it!" he called out. The force field dropped and Willow collapsed onto the ground. The monster staggered forward a couple steps, still looking confused but angry. Xander spun in a circle and launched Buffy like a shot put. She kicked off and flew through the air like a missile, extending her arms with the daggers pointed out in front of her. Xander's aim was true as she found herself flying right toward the thing's face. She plunged the daggers into its eyes as far as she could, then pushing off from its face with her feet, she did a backflip in the air and landed on the ground on her feet.

The blood god howled in pain, clutching at its eyes. Its face started to melt as it staggered around the clearing. Xander breathed a sigh of relief, until he saw it staggering closer and closer forward. "No," he muttered to himself. "No, don't. Please don't." The thing's entire head was practically gone by this point. The headless body took one more step before toppling over. Xander dove out of the way just as it fell on top of his car, crushing it with a loud crunch of glass and metal. Xander stood and stared, his mouth agape. "You have got to be kidding me!"

The others walked over to where Xander stood, Tara helping the weakened Willow to walk. "Oh, Xander. I'm so sorry," Tara said. "At least we're all okay."

"Yeah," Willow agreed. "That could have gone a whole lot worse. Nice job, Buffy."

"Xander did the hard part. That's a hell of an arm you've got there. You've done that before, haven't you?"

Xander's eyes darted from side to side. "Maybe," he answered cryptically. "So, what do we do about this thing?" he asked, indicating the creature. "Even in Sunnydale someone is bound to notice this."

"The book says the rest of the body should dissolve in about an hour," Dawn said.

"Great, he's the LensCrafters of demons," Xander said. "Meanwhile my car is going to be just as destroyed."

"Don't you have insurance?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, somehow I don't think Statefarm covers acts of blood god," Xander said.

Buffy giggled. "No, probably not." Xander glared at her. "Sorry, it's not funny, I know." She tittered again, and then trying to hold it in, she snorted. That made Willow and Dawn laugh. Tara tried to hold out but she couldn't stand it and she started laughing too.

Xander finally cracked a smile as he reverted back to his normal form. It could have been a lot worse, he repeated to himself.

"So," Dawn said as the laughter finally died down. "How are we going to get out of here?"

The group looked around for a moment, all seemingly realized at once that they were still in the middle of nowhere and now had no way to get home.

"Ah, crap!" Buffy exclaimed.

Xander sighed. "So much for a quiet summer."

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TBC…maybe


	2. Chapter 2

**Ping!**

By Paradox761

Summary: After Buffy takes down the Trio and deals with the reveal of her secret relationship with Spike, Xander inadvertently reveals a secret of his own. (Secret crossover)

Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue.

Spoilers: "Seeing Red", some dialogue has been taken directly from the episode. Also, "Beneath You".

Feedback: Thanks to everyone who has responded so far, as always it's very much appreciated. Additional feedback is always welcome.

Story note: In the month between the second and third scenes of part 1, Willow underwent additional magical training with the assistance of Tara to learn to responsibly use her magic.

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(2/?)

One week later.

A black Hummer H3 pulled up in front of the Summers' home and parked. It had New York vanity plates, which read 'COLOSUS'. Xander stepped out of the driver's side, donning sunglasses he looked up at the sky, a beautiful clear day. He smiled and headed up the walk. Letting himself in he called out, "Anyone home?"

Willow and Tara came out from the kitchen. "Xander, you're back!" Willow said excitedly, giving Xander a hug. "How was New York?"

Tara gave him a quick hug as well. "How did everything go?"

"Better than I expected actually," Xander said, taking off his sunglasses. "The Professor was more understanding than I thought he'd be. He understood how guilty I felt about what happened, but also how happy I was to not have to keep this secret from my closest friends anymore. He still thinks that it might not be much longer before the existence of mutants becomes public knowledge. He has friends in the government who have been feeding him information about certain secret projects. He didn't give me any specifics, but he's concerned."

"Did he ask you to stay?" Willow asked, her voice tinged with concern.

"No, he knows that I would never leave Sunnydale as long as you all are here. He did make me another offer though," Xander said, his smile a mile wide.

"What's that?" Tara asked.

"His search for more mutants to bring to the school and help is still going on, but the world is a big place and he doesn't have time to travel around and actively recruit. So, he has people who work for him all over the world who do it for him. You're looking at the new West coast regional admissions counselor for Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters."

"Xander, that's great!" Willow said with a smile.

"I know. I can still help the Professor without having to leave home. Well, I'll have to take trips all over the west to recruit new mutants whenever he locates someone nearby, maybe the occasional trip to New York, but nothing long term. Plus, I can draw a salary so I don't have to keep a day job, and…" he held out his hand, letting a new set of keys dangle from it. "Company car."

"Cool, what did you get?" Tara asked.

"Something well suited to the demon fighting," Xander answered. "Rugged, roomy, stylish, comfortably seats the entire Scooby gang with room for weapons. It's the ultimate slay-mobile."

"What is it?" Willow asked.

Just then, Buffy walked through the front door. "Hey, whose Hummer is that outsi…Xander!" She pulled him into a hug when she saw him.

"A Hummer, really?" Willow said. "Do you know how bad those are for the environment?"

"First off, it's an H3, not an H1. And secondly, what am I supposed to get? I don't think we're going to intimidate a whole lot of demons if we show up to the latest apocalypse with our swords and crossbows and pile out of a Toyota Prius." Willow just rolled her eyes.

"Wait, that's your Hummer?" Buffy said.

"Yup," Xander said with pride. "The Prof offered me a job, complete with company car."

"Oh, so…you're leaving," Buffy said in a dejected tone.

"What? No, no I'm not going anywhere. This boy is strictly West coast. You're not getting rid of me that easily."

"Xander is going to help Professor Xavier by finding mutants in this part of the country," Willow said.

"Oh Xander, that's great. I'm happy for you," Buffy said, visibly relieved.

"Don't be happy for me, Buffy. Be happy for us."

"What do you mean?"

"This isn't just a job. Professor Xavier made it clear to me, he wants to fund the slaying."

"What?" Buffy asked, clearly shocked.

"You told him about…" Willow started.

"Didn't have to, he already knew all about vampires. As for our group here, well…It's kind of hard to keep secrets from a telepath. I wanted him to understand that I had a good reason for telling you guys, and for staying in Sunnydale. Please don't be mad at me, but…I let him look inside my head. He saw everything that we've done over the last six years. He said that he was impressed by all of us, but especially by you Buffy. He said that your inner strength was something the likes of which he had never seen before. Your resilience, your dedication, your heart, the sacrifices that you've made, he was…astonished."

"Wow," Willow said.

"It's not really surprising, he was looking at her through my eyes, through my memories and thoughts," Xander said. "He was dumfounded by what he saw as a complete lack of respect and support by the Watcher's council, and he wants to help."

Buffy looked like she was about to cry, whether it was tears of relief or just overwhelming emotion Xander wasn't sure. "I…I don't know what to say. It's a very kind gesture, but I can't ask…"

"You don't have to ask, Buff," Xander interrupted. "Another advantage to having a telepathic benefactor. On the books, the money he sends will be my salary. But it will take the form of a weekly stipend for all of us, as well as a discretionary fund that we can use for equipment or supplies, whatever we need. He's even setting up a college fund for Dawn."

That broke the dam and the tears started to flow. Xander pulled her into a hug and she hugged him back fiercely. After a moment she regained her composure and wiped the tears away. "Thank you just doesn't seem like enough."

"The Professor is a class act, what can I say."

"I'm sure he is, and I'll be forever grateful to him, but I meant you. You did this for us, Xander. I don't know how I can ever properly say thank you."

"No need, Buff. I've always got your back, and I always will. I promise."

More hugging and more crying followed, from all four of them. When Dawn arrived home a bit later and found them all on the living room floor, she was decidedly confused.

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The bell above the door of the Magic Box rang and Anya looked up from behind the counter. "Welcome to the Magic Box, how can I…oh, it's you."

"Yeah, it's me," Xander answered sheepishly.

"Is the world coming to an end again? What book or charm or whatever do you need me to give you for free now?"

"The world is fine as far as I know. I'm not here for anything like that."

"What then, what do you want?"

What did he want? Xander felt like he had been asking himself that question ever since he had left her on their wedding day. Did he want a normal life, with a wife and 2.5 kids with a dog and a white picket fence? Did he leave because of the vision that he had seen of their possible life together, because he saw himself becoming his father, because he was afraid that he would hurt her? But even after he knew that vision to be false, something nagged at him. Something told him that he was making a mistake. Maybe he didn't know what he wanted, but he knew that he didn't want to hurt her. The fact that he had caused her so much pain still ate at him daily, and he knew that the only thing that would fix it was time. There were no magic words that he could say that would make her forgive him, he just had to be mature enough to realize that and accept it.

"Anya, there's something that I need to tell you. It's a secret that I've been keeping for a very long time, from everyone, and I've just recently decided to share it with the people that…mean the most to me. It may be a bit shocking so I just want you to give me a chance to explain."

Anya sighed. "Xander, I'm done being shocked by you. There's nothing that you can say that's going to…change things." She turned away from him to walk around the counter, and when she turned back, he was seven feet tall and covered in metal. "Ahh!" she gasped, startled and took a step back.

"Surprise," Xander said.

Anya stared for a moment, her brow furrowed in thought. "You're a mutant?" she asked.

Xander smiled to himself. Leave it to her to put it together so quickly. She always was more on the ball than people gave her credit for. "I'm a mutant," he answered simply.

She paused again, still thinking. "Is this why…" She let the question trail off.

"No," he said sadly. "There's no one simple reason for why…things happened the way they did. I knew that you would understand this when I eventually told you, I just…" Xander trailed off, not sure what to say there. "I wanted to tell you now, since things…were different."

"So that's it, just 'FYI, I'm a mutant, have a nice life'?"

"No, there's something else. I have a…" He almost said 'proposal' and then thought better of it. "An offer for you. I have a friend in New York, a mentor really. He helped me when I was young to learn about what I was. Recently he's decided to help with the slaying, financially. Part of that includes a discretionary fund that he's set up to help us with supplies or whatever else we need. I was wondering if you would like to manage it for us."

"What?"

"Well, we already use the Magic Box for supplies and research materials as it is, so really not much would change. You would just be getting paid for it."

Anya blinked. "Are you serious?" Xander nodded. "How much?"

Xander told her the number.

"Per month?" she asked.

"Per week," Xander corrected.

Her eyes went wide in her head. "That's some friend." Xander nodded again. "Okay, sure, I can do that," she said, trying to sound casual about it. "I suppose that means that you all will be hanging out here again, researching, having your…Scooby meetings."

"That would be the easiest thing to do I thought."

"Right, okay. That'll be fine." He could tell that she was torn about it, but she was handling it. "This doesn't change things, between us."

"I know," Xander said.

"It's just business."

"Understood." He reverted back to his normal form and held out his hand. Anya approached slowly and reached out and shook it. "You look good, Anya," he said. "I, uh…I guess I'll see you around."

Xander turned to go, telling himself not to turn around to look at her again.

Anya wiped her eye, telling herself that it was just a piece of dust that had gotten into it.

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That night Xander and Buffy were patrolling together in the park.

"The hardest part for me to understand is how you kept this hidden for six years. I mean, we've been through some heavy stuff. There was never a time when you felt like you had to reveal your powers? The Mayor, Adam, Glory?"

"There were times when there was no one around and I did what I had to do to protect myself, but mostly you had things under control. I mean, there was never anything that I thought I could do that you or someone else couldn't. At least, not until Warren showed up with a gun."

"I can think of plenty of times over the years when I didn't have things under control."

"Yeah, but you did. You just didn't know it. I've always considered it my primary job as a Scooby to remind you just how awesome you are."

Buffy giggled at that. "It's too bad I didn't have someone around to remind me how awesome *you* are."

"I don't know about that. I've kept this secret from you all for so long, I've done…some bad things. I've hurt people. I don't feel all that awesome."

"We've all made mistakes, Xander. The important thing is that we're all here for each other to get through that. You showed me that. I never would have been able to get through the last six years without you, or Willow and Giles. And that doesn't have anything to do with your powers, it has everything to do with who you are."

Xander smiled and put his arm around her while they walked. Buffy leaned her head against his shoulder and he leaned down and kissed the top of it.

"Well well, look what we have here," a voice spoke from the shadows. From around them, six vampires emerged out from the trees. "Young love," the leader said. The other vampires laughed.

Buffy and Xander looked at each other. "Amazing, they honestly think that we didn't hear them," Buffy said.

"I know, all those twig snaps and rustling branches, they might as well have been wearing bells around their necks," Xander replied.

Buffy pulled a stake from her jacket and Xander transformed into his mutant form. The half-dozen undead boneheads instantly knew that they had made a terrible mistake. Two of them tried to run, Xander grabbed them by their collars and pulled them back, hoisting them up. They swung and kicked but nothing had any effect on Xander's organic steel skin. He swung the first into a nearby tree branch, piercing its heart and turning him instantly into dust. The second slipped out of his jacket and tried a second time to run. Xander caught him with a kick and sent him sprawling into another tree, where he thudded against the trunk and fell to the ground in a heap.

The other four were trying to gang up on Buffy. She had already staked one by the time Xander was done with his two and was trading blows with another. A third was trying to circle around and catch Buffy from behind. Xander intercepted him and delivered a punch that literally knocked his head off. The creature was dust before he ever saw it coming. Buffy staked the one that she was fighting. The last vampire on his feet took off running. Buffy flipped the stake over in her hand and tossed it like a throwing knife. Her aim was true and it struck him in the back, piercing his heart and reducing him to ash. Xander beheaded the last vampire who was still lying on the ground, and almost just as soon as it had started, the fight was over.

The pair dusted themselves off and Xander reverted back to his normal form. "So, want to get a frozen yogurt or something?" Xander asked.

Buffy shrugged. "Sure, why not? I've been good today."

8888888888888888

Unseen by either Buffy or Xander, a figure watched them from the shadows. He was disheveled, his clothes in rags, his hair wild and unkempt. He muttered to himself as he watched them walk away together after they had neatly dispatched six vampires with barely a problem. "She has a new defender now. A protector, a knight in shining armor," he said, giggling to himself crazily at his own little joke. But his expression grew serious again in a heartbeat. "How can I make myself worthy? Must be the kind of man who would never…must be a kind of man. To be forgiven, to be redeemed, to be hers. But it isn't time yet, no not yet."

The figure skulked away, staying in the shadows he made his way back to Sunnydale High, where he slipped in through an open basement window. Back to his makeshift shelter. Back to his guilt and torment. "Must be worthy. Must be a man," he muttered to himself. He curled into a ball on the pile of rags that served as his bed, and he fell asleep.

The last thing that Spike thought of before he dozed off, was Buffy.

TBC…


End file.
